The Perils of the Saho MTE

From very beginning, a very big majority of the Saho intellectuals opposed the MTE program for different reasons and warned that it could have serious consequences in the future. Among such reasons were MTE intended for marginalization and distancing the Saho people from opportunities and as a mechanism used to ensure the domination of Tigrigna language and culture. Moreover, they argue MTE is poor in its practical application.

Marginalization of the Arabic language is also another concern.

56 2.2.1. Marginalization and Polarization

Tronvoll and Mekonnen, (2014:138) states that the MTE program was opposed by almost all minority groups, including Saho, claiming that the policy was adopted in order to sustain the marginalization of minority groups since they would not be fluent in the dominant language of the state, Tigrigna and furthermore, pointing to the risks of discriminations against the minority students in admission to institutions of higher education and job opportunities in the civil services, since fluency of the Tigrigna language is indispensable.

I shall use here personal stories and experiences of former teachers in the Saho MTE.

They are interviewees No. 6, 7 & 17. Their stories and experiences were quite comparable.

So that, I refer to the interviewee No.6, whose anonymous name is Nasser. According to Nasser, "... there was an intensive campaign for the MTE from the government. It was in 1997 while I was studying 10^th grade in Senafe town, officers from the Eritrean ministry of education came to the school and gathered all Saho students. First they told that, as relatively talented Saho students you have moral responsibility and obligations to serve your people in the government project of mother tongue education. In regard to this, government have made for you exemptions and promises such as (1) exemption from national (military) service (2) equal salary with all teachers of Tigrigna schools (3) anyone who passed national secondary school leaving examination, will be allowed to join the university".

Many of the students were encouraged because of the promises entered. Accordingly, students who passed from grade 10^th to 11^th were given a chance to study one year in Asmara Teachers Training Institute (TTI). The selection criteria were grade achievements thus, students with higher grades were given priority and those with lower grades were not.

Moreover, at that time elementary teachers salaries were raised from 450 to 910 Nakfa⁷¹ and secondly, staying one year in Asmara; studying in the college was another inspiring issue to many students to accept the deal. Finally, almost all the students were accepted the deal and studied one year at the teachers training institute (TTI) in Asmara (interviewee 6 & 17).

However, after the completion of one year of study, the government broke all the entered promises. Firstly, those who scored enough grades and were supposed to join the University of Asmara were refused the chance. Secondly, as the Ethio-Eritrean war (1998-2000) escalated, all of the students were taken to Sawa military camp, for military training, and as a general government rule, the Saho MTE teachers conscripted to the national service

71 Nakfa (NKF) is Eritrean national currency.

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and their salaries were reduced from 910⁷² Nakfa to 45 Nakfa for six months and then 450 NKF, as part of the national service and continued to be this low for the years to come.

Nothing was delivered from the promises they pledged for them. In fact, all the promises were just hallow incentives to accept the government plan. Otherwise it would be compulsory to accept because it was made compulsory in the Afar minority group. They were publicly told that they will not join the University even if they got good grades, under excuses of their unquestionable duty to teach their people.

One of the perils of MTE is that most top students who had lifelong ambitions and thus worked hard hoping to join higher education in their past school life, all their dreams were thwarted. Many of the students who scored good grades refused chances to higher education. And others reduced their efforts already because of the promises. While on the other side, their classmates and friends mainly from Tigrigna ethnic group mostly joined the University of Asmara and other higher education institutions having studied well. Countless Saho students, many of them were brilliant enough, were drifted away from their life-long ambitions of attaining higher education. In this way, the promises of mother tongue education turned out to be a set-up by the government to hinder the Saho students from attaining higher education and thereby disadvantaged them in the labour market vis-à-vis Tigrigna speakers.

2.2.2. Tigrigna Language Domination

Practically, only Tigrigna, the language of the dominant group is used as a means of communication in the administration and in the private sector. Services in every sectors of government are accessible only by the Tigrigna language and no formal interpretation support is given. In addition to this, the ineffective role of the Saho language even in the local areas shaped by Saho majority, contributed to the insignificancy of MTE. Moreover, mastering Tigrigna language, both speaking and writing, became a primary condition to the government apparatus and job opportunities as well as other privileges and benefits. Hence, both parents and students generated negative attitudes towards their mother tongue, while at the same time they embraced the Tigrigna language against their will, at the cost of their mother tongue.

Bereketeab, (2010:22), states that "... parents are aiming, by choosing a language they perceived is more marketable than their own, at the linguistic market where competitive and profitable legitimate linguistic competence is earned. What becomes appealing is that

72 The exchange rate for 910 NKF in $US at that time (1997) was nearly 110 $US.

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adopting the language of formality or office in which mastering it may lead to a prestigious and profitable job in the public sphere. If it is another language than one’s own then let it be"

As a response, some students quit studying and school dropouts increased dramatically. Moreover, some parents opted to send their children to towns where their children can find Tigrigna schools to avoid MTE, which understandably will not help them in their life. As it became noticeable and common, the government immediately set up committee from the villages to return the students through putting pressure on their parents and threatening for imminent consequences. As a second measure, the government formally informed all local schools teaching in Tigrigna in Senafe and its surrounding, not to enrol any students from the Saho ethnic group, as they have to attend their mother tongue schools (interviewees 6, 7 & 17).

Interviewee (17) narrates wondering, "We see some students who quit learning in their mother tongue roaming around aimlessly, but no measures were taken by the government to bring them back to schools, like it did with those who enrolled in Tigrigna schools in towns".

Tigrigna language became attractive as the only means of success both to the Saho students and parents. According to the interviewee (17), in a place called Gollo around Senafe, some students and their parents were asking teachers if they can help them learn Tigrigna even in exchange of some service. The need emanates from their desperate interest to equip themselves and their children with Tigrigna to access the essential services. Some teachers as per request took initiatives to teach them Tigrigna language in their spare time.

However, as the news reached the sub-zone office of Ministry of Education, teachers were summoned to the office and threatened for their initiatives and given strict warning not to do the same thing in the future.

Moreover, inclusion of Tigrigna as a subject in the curriculum was the result of relentless pleading from parents and students. At the beginning their request was turned down by concerned government officials who stated different lame excuses. Sometimes they said that inclusion of Tigrigna as an extra course will be an additional burden on the children and sometime it is government policy and thus it is beyond their official mandate to do so. Those who are in key positions are either from Tigrigna ethnic group or former students of the revolutionary school of the EPLF known as Beit Timhirt Sewra-most of the them are brainwashed hard line supporters of any government policies.

Many of those who learned in mother tongue meet with challenges during interaction with people in public areas such as in gathering, employment, military areas, as they can't

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speak the Tigrigna language which has become the medium of communication. They feel alien to their compatriots and their country’s issues. Tigrigna language has become an expression of Eritrean identity. If someone, from minority groups, unable to speak Tigrigna language, the immediate question put on him or he/she has to answer is: "are you not Eritrean? Many Tigrigna speakers both intentionally or unintentionally insist on the questions and even perceive them as uncivilized or uneducated idiots. This is a clear by-product of how a social system was restructured by the regime through its language policy.

2.2.3. Double-standardization

Regarding the quality of MTE, Dutcher (2003:4) underlines that although the use of MTE is necessary, but not sufficient for high quality education in relation to Tigrigna teaching schools. As stated by interviewee (17), the treatment of schools between Saho teaching and Tigrigna teaching is so different in terms of facilities, provision of books, teachers, and others. For example each student in Tigrigna teaching schools gets each book while in Saho teaching schools two or more students share a book. Moreover, teachers of MTE are identified as not like normal teachers but usually distinguished from other teachers as "Latin teacher" with undermining attitude from teachers of Tigrigna teaching schools.

Similarly students who learned in Latin or mother tongue experience the same within society.

By 2005, the government planned to rearrange class levels in all schools in accordance to the students' ages. Consequently, all Eritrean students who don't fit their age to the school classes they are in were stopped as being over-aged. Finally, taken to the military training camp, Sawa forcibly or rounded up by government army. As in almost all Saho regions, schools were opened so late, the students hosted in the Saho teaching schools were found disqualified according to the new rearrangement, as they started schools at their late age. The Saho teaching schools hence affected so badly. Several Saho students were swept away from their schools. But the Tigrigna schools were less affected compared to the Saho, as schools opened decades ago and thus children joined schools at their early age. Saho elders as well as teachers implored the government to reconsider, but fruitless. Treating equally all people without consideration to their differential situations is contrary to justice. Justice in this sense, according to Kymlicka, (1995:109), would primarily require external support and protection by understanding to the differential situations of disadvantaged groups so as to redress historic wrongs.

In the Saho MTE, the system in which job and other opportunities awarded is according to political allegiance to the regime rather than meritocratic. Those who were

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students of the former revolutionary school of EPLF or Beit Timhirti Sewra and members of the PFDJ party hold key positions in mother tongue education and have priority in job and are more trusted over others, regardless of whether they meet the necessary academic criteria.

They are believed to apply any government orders from above without reluctance. Especially those who are well-educated and fail to prove support to the regime have no chance, neither to develop themselves nor to hold a good position.

In no wonder, the Eritrea's minister of Education from 1995 to 2006 was from the Saho. But he hadn't any effective role, rather a symbolic one. Every critical issue in the ministry were controlled and directed by the president's office and president's faithful individuals. It is mainly an Eritrean president's usual hypocritical tactic in order to absolve himself from any blame or responsibility.

2.2.4. Cultural marginalization

How the government of Eritrea used to treat cultures of minorities is quite inconsistent with the promises of language policy and to the international norm. The Saho people can only enjoy and develop their culture under the mercy and will of PFDJ regime (under strict control and censorship of cultural affairs dept.), while on the other side working intensively to develop and systematically disseminate Tigrigna language and culture into minorities. The government Medias and other institutions are highly occupied with providing Drama, comedies, magazines and other cultural shows in Tigrigna language. While on the other side no meaningful activities about the Saho language or culture. This made many Saho children to be attracted to the Tigrigna language and culture.

Many Saho, in opposition to the government control and intervention over their cultural issues, abandoned such activities supervised by the government. Today, watching on the government TV or festivities, singing or especially Saho dancing, performed by deliberately trained none Saho regime fanatics is common, as if no one in the saho can dance his own dance or to depict the fake social harmony that is realised, thanks to the regime’s policies of equality and national unity. The goal behind this is trying to show participation of all cultural groups on equal footing while the contents of the music or how they use to dance is ridiculous to the native Saho.

Such things induced a feeling of inferiority to some Saho, mainly children and on the other side, to some Tigrigna as well as some foreigners, Tigrigna culture like Tigrigna language, became the identifying factor for Eritrean identity. This chauvinistic attitude

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implies that the Saho those who can't understand Tigrigna culture (for instance dancing) and speak Tigrigna treated as aliens to the state.

According to interviewee (6, 7, & 17) indicates, today most of the teachers in MTE abandoned the job because of the mentioned pressures. Those who are still attached to the job are those who lacked income alternatives to support their families. Secondly, there are only two options for them; either to continue as a teacher or to join the army, thus many chose to stay in the position. The third option might be abandoning the country.

2.2.5. Marginalization of the Arabic language

The Arabic language has socioeconomic, religious and political importance to the Saho people in particular and to the almost all Eritrean minority groups in general. Similarly it has also long history and influence in the Eritrean community. It is moreover an official Eritrean language beside to Tigrigna language. Despite all this, there is deliberate neglect of the Arabic language by the PFDJ government (Mohammad, 2013:74).

The policy of education both in Arabic and Tigrigna was promoted by BMA (Naty, 2001:273). The controversial debate in the 1950s between Eritrean Moslems and Christians ended in the agreement to let both Tigrigna and Arabic be Eritrean official languages. Arabic was the dominant language of communication in the first decade of the liberation struggle led by the ELF. However, with the massive joining of Tigrigna speaking highlanders in the armed struggle, the need for Tigrigna necessitated and as a result ELF afforded Arabic and Tigrigna the status of official languages of the organization. The EPLF although it adopted the same policy in theory its emphasis was on Tigrigna, Tigre and other minority languages rather than Arabic, as it was reflected in its many cultural activities and popular mobilization (Bereketeab, 2010:12-14). Generally speaking, the elite group of both ELF and EPLF had effects on determining either bipolarity or multi-polarity one against the other. EPLF is therefore, applying the policy in the post liberation Eritrean as well (ibid: 20).

The implementation of the language policy in independent Eritrea divided Eritreans into religious line rather than ethnic. Most Muslim communities, among them the Saho, chose the Arabic language instead of their ethnic language. While on the other side, Tigrigna and other Christian minorities in Tigre, Kunama and Bilen chose mother tongue education.

Resistance to the MTE policy by Muslims is probably related to their attraction to the Arabic language as a major regional and international language. Secondly, Eritrean Muslims may turn to Arabic as a unifying strategy to challenge the political domination of the Tigrigna projected by the EPLF/PFDJ government (Tronvoll and Mekonnen, 2014:140-141). The role

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of the Arabic language as a unifying factor among Eritrean Muslim ethnic groups during political uprising of 1941-1961, is also worth noting (Mohammad, 2013).

The Arabic language is widely spoken among the Saho adults (Lewis, 1969:176). So that embrace for Arabic language in elementary schools exceeds the Tigrigna language. The embrace stems from different interests and facts such as religious, political, historic, economic and regional and international importance. However, the systematic marginalization of the Arabic language increased the embrace of the Tigrigna language both by Saho parents and students.

The need for the Arabic language, therefore, originates primarily from religious facts.

The Moslem Saho receives Islamic teaching and preaching in Arabic. Additionally, every Saho individual and child from his early age has to recite the Quran in Arabic. In most cases, even families prefer to send their children to learn the holy Quran before he starts the secular education. This has contributed to their familiarity and relative ability to speak, and read as well as write the Arabic language and venerate it as a religious language as well.

Secondly, Arabic language accentuates important part in the daily life of the Saho community. Marriage agreements, property inheritance, genealogy, conflict resolutions are all documented in the Arabic language. For instance as an important indication of their dependence on Arabic for centuries the "Customary law of the Akeleguzay Muslim (The Saho)⁷³ " was written in Arabic in 1943 and translated and edited in English by the prominent Saho scholar Pro. AbdulKader Saleh Mohammad.

There are historic facts as well. The Saho people since long time have travelled to Arab speaking countries for socioeconomic and educational reasons and sometime their elites interacted with Arabs for political reasons. The returnees from these countries made significant impacts at home so as the need and practice of the Arabic language among the Saho people have been considerably advanced. Alongside this, the Saho people's deep involvement in the ELF also infused Arabic language and culture further within the society.

Because of these facts, almost every adult among the Saho can read, understand and speak (if not perfectly at all) Arabic language. Saho prefer to borrow words from the Arabic rather than any other language, thus, there are several vocabularies adopted from Arabic language. Using Arabic expressions and proverbs while in conversation is very common.

Moreover, personal nomenclatures used in the Saho predominantly are Islamo-Arabic.

73 http://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/74

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Opposition to the Arabic language comes from the majority of the Christian-Tigrigna

Opposition to the Arabic language comes from the majority of the Christian-Tigrigna